The power of surprise
A neuroscientist friend of Brilliant Noise once described why surprise is such an important part of learning.
Surprise, she said, is a super power. Not a surprise, but the sense of surprise. The sensation of surprise. When we are surprised, our brain is open to seeing the world differently – something has changed our mind about how we thought something was going to be. It’s like that “lightbulb” moment when suddenly you see things differently.
It helps you leap over the obstacles of hesitancy, fear and doubt about learning new things.
That insight changed our course as a company.
Running our AI-B-C programmes over the past 18 months, our approach has changed from how we used to run innovation workshops before AI. The tried and tested format would be: an exciting presentation about technology and possibility, followed by a lot of energy examining how things works and then coming up with ideas about how to make things better.
Clients would walk away with resolve to “do something” and stacks of post-its and flip charts with precious ideas about what they could do. (In fairness we would write these up as a strategic roadmap too.)
However, the “aha” moments didn’t happen in the AI-B-C workshops when we explained AI. They happened when we showed how to use it. First by showing the difference between free and paid-for tools, then by using structured prompts (like role-task-format), then basic custom chatbots to speed up boring jobs.
When we noticed this we flipped the first session: the lecture, with the second: the demos.
“Show, then tell” has always been a mantra we’ve strived to achieve. But maybe never fully realised until now.
The neuroscientist friend explained that when we are surprised our brains switch on for learning, they lean forward, catching the scent of new knowledge. “What. The. Hell. Is. That?”
It makes us feel curious and excited. Ready and hungry to learn.
We’re still running our workshops and literacy programmes, but with much more show than tell.
Getting one-on-one with an AI Power Hours is usually the first step. If there is hesitancy or someone is too wary of the hype or the risk of investing in their AI literacy. We offer a AI Power Hour. It’s a way of surprising and delighting, but also getting some serious sh*t done.
Right from the first testing, AI Power Hours have changed minds, (and lives!) Feedback we've had has ranged from “thank you for giving me my afternoon back”to “You have made me fall back in love with my job.”
Book an AI Power Hour here. Free surprise inside every one.
